StartupLagos
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    Nigeria Lending startup, Lidya raises $8.3 million pre-Series B to scale its operations in existing markets

    Nigeria Lending startup, Lidya raises $8.3 million pre-Series B to scale its operations in existing markets

    Business-financing platform, PayHippo raises $1 million Pre-Seed to fund more SMEs in Nigeria

    Business-financing platform, PayHippo raises $1 million Pre-Seed to fund more SMEs in Nigeria

    Fairmoney raises $42 million Series B round led by Tiger Global, reveals plans on evolving into a full-fledged Neobank

    Fairmoney raises $42 million Series B round led by Tiger Global, reveals plans on evolving into a full-fledged Neobank

    Healthtech startup, MDaaS global secures $2.3million seed extension, launches a new product

    Healthtech startup, MDaaS global secures $2.3million seed extension, launches a new product

    Trending Tags

    • funding opportunities
    • African Entrepreneurship Award
  • Startup Stories
  • Startup Advice
  • Features
  • Podcast
  • About Us
Podcast
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • News
    Nigeria Lending startup, Lidya raises $8.3 million pre-Series B to scale its operations in existing markets

    Nigeria Lending startup, Lidya raises $8.3 million pre-Series B to scale its operations in existing markets

    Business-financing platform, PayHippo raises $1 million Pre-Seed to fund more SMEs in Nigeria

    Business-financing platform, PayHippo raises $1 million Pre-Seed to fund more SMEs in Nigeria

    Fairmoney raises $42 million Series B round led by Tiger Global, reveals plans on evolving into a full-fledged Neobank

    Fairmoney raises $42 million Series B round led by Tiger Global, reveals plans on evolving into a full-fledged Neobank

    Healthtech startup, MDaaS global secures $2.3million seed extension, launches a new product

    Healthtech startup, MDaaS global secures $2.3million seed extension, launches a new product

    Trending Tags

    • funding opportunities
    • African Entrepreneurship Award
  • Startup Stories
  • Startup Advice
  • Features
  • Podcast
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
StartupLagos
No Result
View All Result

Why your referral network is drying up

Team Startup Lagos by Team Startup Lagos
12/11/2016
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
0
referral network

 

RELATED POSTS

5 books every startup founder should add to their reading list

Google supports Black Founders and Entrepreneurs in Africa

Picking a Co-founder

Referral Network

August, 2002: I was 16 and had been running the Café business for a few months, but now we were at a fix. Our daily number of customers was beginning to decline and more worrying, we hadn’t seen a new face in a while….

Lately, things haven’t been so great (cash-flow-wise) at the firm, so one night my co-founder asked me, “why don’t we have enough customers”? I am pretty sure he had pondered on this issue for a while before deciding to let me have a go ☺.

Anyway, I shrugged and gave the straight answer. “It’s because we are not selling to enough businesses”. Then I thought about it, do we really sell? A quick analysis of our business in the last 3 years points to one fact, 100% (not 99%) of our business are from referrals.

You see, I work in a software consulting firm, where we offer our excellent software design and building skills to enterprise customers who need customized business solutions. And like with most consulting firms, it starts off acquiring customers through the founder’s network.

referral network growth

It isn’t really so bad that all of our customers are gotten through referrals (in fact, I would argue that in a consulting business, your best customers are gotten through referrals), the problem is we had done nothing to nurture/grow our referral network.

Buy JNews
ADVERTISEMENT

So here I am, thinking; how do we grow our referral network?Do we improve (read: start) on our networking efforts i.e. attend events, conventions, product launches; sign up to a sports club, local bar, gym. OR do we dust up the old Rolodex and begin another round of cold calling OR like I did in 2002, do we start mailing envelopes (containing high quality prints showcasing our services) to potential customers.

 

This post first appeared on Mayor Brain’s Blog

ShareTweetShare
Team Startup Lagos

Team Startup Lagos

Startup Lagos is a leading Nigerian media and information platform, known for its end-to-end coverage of the Nigerian startup ecosystem. Starting 5 years ago, Startup Lagos has now become the gateway to the Nigerian startup ecosystem.

Related Posts

5 books every startup founder should add to their reading list
Business

5 books every startup founder should add to their reading list

06/23/2021
Google supports Black Founders and Entrepreneurs in Africa
Accelerator

Google supports Black Founders and Entrepreneurs in Africa

06/22/2021
Paystack is live in South Africa!
Business Planning

Picking a Co-founder

05/30/2021
African-focused VC, Future Africa announces $3 million investments in 13 startups in 2021
Africa

African-focused VC, Future Africa announces $3 million investments in 13 startups in 2021

05/19/2021
#Covid19: Advice For Founders-  Tough calls in Tough Times – Managing this crisis
Covid19

#Covid19: Advice For Founders- Tough calls in Tough Times – Managing this crisis

11/09/2022
Startup Advice

Here are seven (7) #MondayMotivation quotes to kick-start your week

07/02/2018
Next Post
Data driven businesses

Building Data Driven Businesses - The best approach for startups in Africa

Accelerator Kenya Spring 17

Applications open for Accelerator Kenya Spring 17

Recommended Stories

#Covid19: Advice For Founders-  Tough calls in Tough Times – Managing this crisis

#Covid19: Advice For Founders- Tough calls in Tough Times – Managing this crisis

11/09/2022

Paystack partners Truecaller, to help more businesses accept payment online

03/20/2018
Ethical credit management startup, BFree raises $800,000 seed round

Ethical credit management startup, BFree raises $800,000 seed round

05/17/2021

Popular Stories

  • 8 Active venture capitalist Firms in Nigeria

    4 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 0
  • Paylater launches PayVest, to provide investment opportunities for users

    3 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 0
  • 6 Travel Tech Startups in Nigeria you should know

    10 shares
    Share 10 Tweet 0
  • TradeDepot raises $10m pre-Series B funding for expansion and new financial products

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Life Bank Nigeria Launches Digital Blood and Oxygen Bank in Ibadan

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Currently Playing
StartupLagos

We are an authoritative voice of the Nigerian Startup Ecosystem and it has brought to light the amazing stories of thousands of startups, entrepreneurs, technological innovations, businesses and many other constituents of the startup ecosystem

Recent Posts

  • Nigeria Lending startup, Lidya raises $8.3 million pre-Series B to scale its operations in existing markets
  • Business-financing platform, PayHippo raises $1 million Pre-Seed to fund more SMEs in Nigeria
  • Fairmoney raises $42 million Series B round led by Tiger Global, reveals plans on evolving into a full-fledged Neobank

Categories

Follow us

    Go to the Customizer > JNews : Social, Like & View > Instagram Feed Setting, to connect your Instagram account.

© 2020 Startup Lagos - brought to you by Prime Startups.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Subscription
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Category
    • Business
    • Culture
    • Economy
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Travel
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Tech
    • World
  • Category
    • Business
    • Culture
    • Economy
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Travel
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Tech
    • World
  • Landing Page
  • Landing Page
  • Buy JNews
  • Buy JNews
  • Support Forum
  • Support Forum
  • Pre-sale Question
  • Pre-sale Question
  • Contact Us
  • Contact Us
  • Home

© 2020 Startup Lagos - brought to you by Prime Startups.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.